The Pride of Chanur: Chanur, Book 1

No one at Meetpoint Station had ever seen a creature like the Outsider. Naked-hided, blunt toothed and blunt-fingered, Tully was the sole surviving member of his company -- a communicative, spacefaring species hitherto unknown -- and he was a prisoner of his discoverer/captors the sadistic, treacherous kif, until his escape onto the hani ship The Pride of Chanur.

Great, fascinating, and exciting

This is a remarkable book, with vivid, complex characters, well-built worlds, and alien species that are clear and memorable. These species are thorou..Show More »ghly alien, and yet, when we consider them through Pyanfar Chanur's eyes, they make their own kind of sense.

Pyanfar Chanur is a shrewed space merchant captain. She's swashbuckling enough to thrive in the sometimes-deadly bluff and counter-bluff of trade and politics between six very distinct spacefaring species. Still, despite swagger and sharp dealings she's an honest, decent captain with a fine, honest crew of kinswomen. In fact it's that very decency, shown in the companionable laughter of crewwomen unloading cargo at dockside on a space station deep in alien territory, that makes a desperate human fugitive choose Pyanfar's ship to try to stow away on. It's also that same decency that makes Pyanfar refuse to return the human (a member of a never-before-seen seventh intelligent species) to the predatory Kif who had attacked his ship and tortured his crewmates to death.

There are some things a decent Hani captain just can't do. Only, by the end of the book, and again by the end of the series, Pyanfar changes her mind about what some of those things are.

While the human, Tully, proves his worth and earns a place in Pyanfar's small crew, the crisis with other species escalates. The deadly Kif want Tully badly enough to go to war to get him. The devious, physically-fragile, timid but ruthless Stsho want their own safety and profit at any cost to other species, and they will placate the Kif if that seems safest. The primate-like Mahendo'sat certainly want something very badly, but it's hard even for a shrewd Hani captain to detect what exactly they're after. A Mahendo'sat captain called Goldtooth seems to be turning into an ally against the Kif (and Pyanfar and her crew desperately need allies), but Goldtooth represents a Mahendo'sat Personage with unknown motives. Can even captains of sincere good will twist their orders far enough to stand by their friends when the best interests of their species come into conflict?

And then there are the methane-breathers, who make no sense to anybody who breathes oxygen, and who are wild cards that can change the whole situation.

Every time I read or listen to this book (and I've listened to it several times already, after having read it many times in hard copy), I'm struck by the book's sheer craftsmanship. It's exciting, and dramatic, but it doesn't slip across the line into melodrama. It's fascinating, and it deals with profound, complex issues, but it isn't pompous, pedantic, or analytical. It's tense and suspenseful, but it's also amusing, often in a wryly self-recognizing "Oh, isn't THAT the truth" kind of way. The story is character driven, but with a rip-snorting plot that could easily steal the show if the characters were weaker and less engaging.

By the way, this book is a stand-alone story, complete in itself. It's not a cliff-hanger. The next three books (Chanur's Venture, The Kif Strike Back, and Chanur's Homecoming) together tell a second story about Pyanfar and her crew.The fifth book in the series, Chanur's Legacy, tells a third story all in one volume.

The five books together are a tour de force, but this first book, Pride of Chanur (punning on "pride," the emotion, and pride as in a pride of lions--the Hani are very lion-like) is one of the all-time great enjoyable works of science fiction.

Chanur's Venture: Chanur, Book 2

In the sequel to Pride of Chanur, Tully returns, and brings with him a priceless trade contract with human space - a contract that could mean vast power, riches, and a mess of trouble for Pyanfar Chanur.

As in my last review, great books great story. ,

As I said in my last review, these books are keeping it new and interesting, the plot line is still keeping me reading, and the narrator has a good gr..Show More »asp on how it should be played. I am lining up the fourth book as I type, I am just sorry that the series has only five books(so far). I hope there will be more soon. So if you want a really good read, try these ones, I don't think anyone will be disappointed.Josie.

The Kif Strike Back: Chanur, Book 3

When the kif seize Hilfy and Tully, Pyanfar and her shipmates enter into a simple rescue attempt. It soon becomes a deadly game of interstellar politics.

A whirl of worlds.

This series is in many ways Cherryh's most accessible one. She takes on one species after another and makes them real as a dime. And comprehensible by..Show More » their own lights. Without ever making them into humans with fur or feathers. It's a wonderful space opera, which I normally hate. But here, when the alliens are so alien and yet, somehow people you know, how can you resist?Some whiny bits in the dialog. Listen to it and see what you think. It didn't ruin my enjoyment of the books.But you might feel differently.

Chanur's Homecoming: Chanur, Book 4

When those alien entities called "humans" sent their first exploration ship into Compact space, the traditional power alliances of the seven Compact races were catastrophically disrupted. And, giving shelter to Tully, the only surviving human, Pyanfar Chanur and her feline hani crew were pitched into the center of a galactic maelstrom, becoming key players in a power game which could cause an interstellar war, or bring the last hope for peace between eight barely compatible alien races.

A whirl of worlds.

This series is in many ways Cherryh's most accessible one. She takes on one species after another and makes them real as a dime. And comprehensible by..Show More » their own lights. Without ever making them into humans with fur or feathers. It's a wonderful space opera, which I normally hate. But here, when the alliens are so alien and yet, somehow people you know, how can you resist?Some whiny bits in the dialog. Listen to it and see what you think. It didn't ruin my enjoyment of the books.But you might feel differently.

Chanur's Legacy: Chanur, Book 5

Ten years after the presence of the human Tully disrupted the crew of The Pride of Chunur, Hilfy becomes the captain and is offered a million credits to transport a small religious object to Urtur Station.

Thoroughly Impressed by Production of a Good Book

The new audiobook is out and I very impressed. First, I am going to concentrate on the audiobook. I am not going to rehash the plot. Suffice it to say..Show More » that Cherryh manages to write a wonderfully complicated but satisfying book giving Hilfy Chanur center stage. I have read a whole bunch of Foreigner books since I first read this book, I can see certain similar themes-- Hilfy was once protocol officer on her aunt's ship which has diplomatic overtones, but Cherryh stays true to her vision of the Hani and other aliens she created for the Compact Space books.

Now to the audiobook-- The narrator Dina Pearlman had narrated a lot of audible books including the Weather Warden and Kris Longknife books but somehow I have never run into her until now. Her reading is measures-- not too fast, not to slow-- but never drags. She does a fabulous job with the something tongue twisting alien names and words. Her species/character delineation is very good. I was never in doubt as to who was speaking.

Very, very pleased with this audio book-- although I would like to add myself to those who would like Cherryh to add more books to this series.